


Out of The Grasp

by giraffewrites



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Billy experimenting with how he looks, Fluff, M/M, Talk of a sexual nature but nothing explicit, nail varnish
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-17
Updated: 2019-08-17
Packaged: 2020-09-05 23:30:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 795
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20281672
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/giraffewrites/pseuds/giraffewrites
Summary: “We’ll start small,” Steve had said on the phone two days ago, “I’ve got an idea.”That idea had turned out to be nail varnish. Two small pots, one clear and one a similar colour to his skin tone. Billy watches as Steve coats the nail of his middle finger with colour, using the pad of his thumb to swipe the small spillage on his skin.In which Billy's gone to college and realised he can experiment with his apperance, but doesn't know how. Steve gives him a helping hand.





	Out of The Grasp

Freedom has never truly been Billy’s. Throughout his life he’s had glimpses. Times at the beach, weekends where Neil was out of town. For short periods of time, freedom was his. He wouldn’t feel liberated, per se. There was always fear lurking in the corner. But certain events and situations quietened it. Made it docile, even if only for a couple of hours or a day.

Linking freedom with expression was something that perhaps took Billy too long to do. Dressing how he wants hasn’t ever been an issue. He knew what suited him, what he liked, and so he dressed as such. What he failed to realise, however, is that he didn’t have the space to experiment. Billy didn’t grow up in an environment where he was nurtured. Encouraged to try different things. Neil never commented on how he was dressed. That meant it was safe. Why would Billy test the waters?

College has granted him the grounds to try new things. People are different here than they are in Hawkins. Although Billy’s pretty sure there’s no place like Hawkins, or even close. People here seem more… free. The clothes are bolder, brighter, weirder. Carol would have a field day picking apart some of the girl’s outfits. But that’s what Billy likes most about college. People like Carol are left to one side, others flourishing in the lives they’re choosing to lead. Basking in the ways they express themselves.

The issue is, is that Billy can’t simply change who he is. Not that he wants to change, per se, but he can’t ignore his upbringing. The look of disgust Neil would give certain people in the street are ingrained in his mind, and his body holds evidence from years of abuse. College is providing him with a chance to try out new things, and yet he can’t find it in him to do so.

“We’ll start small,” Steve had said on the phone two days ago, “I’ve got an idea.”

That idea had turned out to be nail varnish. Two small pots, one clear and one a similar colour to his skin tone. Billy watches as Steve coats the nail of his middle finger with colour, using the pad of his thumb to swipe the small spillage on his skin.

“Your nails are a lot easier to paint than Robin’s,” Steve tells him, head down as he dips the brush back into the pot. He moves onto the next nail, “She never stops moving.”

Having the nail varnish on his fingers is strange. In a good way. Billy had been apprehensive at first, but looking at his almost completed set of nails, he feels good. The colour’s subtle enough that no one’s really going to notice, but he’ll know. It kind of feels like a rebellion, although there’s nothing he’s really rebelling against.

“There.” Steve places Billy’s hand on his knee, matching the other. “Let them dry and then I’ll do the top coat.”

Admiring his nails isn’t something Billy has ever thought about. Looking at them now, however, he’s certainly in awe of the job Steve’s done. He leans over to catch Steve’s lips in a kiss, grinning at the surprised sound he makes. “You painted them well,” he compliments, not missing the blush on Steve’s cheeks before he looks back down at his nails, “you should open up a salon.”

“Yeah, as if,” Steve laughs, securing the lid of the nail varnish.

Billy shifts so he’s sat between Steve’s legs, back against his chest. “Start out small, get a job at a salon when we move in together next year.”

“Just so you can get discount?”

“Discount? You’ll do them for free,” Billy teases, looking up at Steve. His eyes fall shut when Steve moves his head in, hands sliding together as their lips press against one another.

“I’ll exchange my nail painting services for a blowjob,” Steve offers. “One blowjob for each nail I paint.”

“In that case, you can just paint one,” Billy presses his middle finger under Steve’s chin, “does that sound fair?”

They both chuckle, and Steve presses a kiss to Billy’s temple before pushing his nose into his hair. “Really though, do you like them?”

“Yeah,” Billy smiles, sliding his hand back into Steve’s, resting against his knee. “It was a good idea. I like them.”

Getting his nails painted has boosted the sense of freedom he’s been feeling since he got a scholarship and cut off the strings Neil had on him. It’s a different sense of freedom, kind of like another level. A new chapter, something like that. Either way he knows that it’s him. It’s opened the door that college made for him, and he’s got no plans of closing it any time soon.

**Author's Note:**

> I've been experimenting with how I dress and wear my makeup lately, and it's super satisfying and freeing to look in the mirror or take a picture of myself and see that I'm dressed how I want to be and in a way that reflects my personailty/who I am etc etc. The idea for this fic didn't come directly from that, but it probably occured self consciously or something.


End file.
